Daley expands efforts to fix Small Games of Chance law

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State Rep. Peter J. Daley, D-California, said Tuesday he would expand his efforts to halt implementation of changes to Pennsylvania’s Small Games of Chance Act by not only introducing legislation to place a moratorium on the changes and reintroducing his legislation to repeal the act, but also by working with his colleagues on the House Gaming Oversight Committee on other legislation to address the various concerns with the law raised by local organizations and clubs.

Additionally, he is circulating a letter addressed to Gov. Tom Corbett to all members of the House for signatures, requesting that he ask Pennsylvania’s secretary of revenue to delay the first reporting deadline of Feb. 1.

“The law, as it was written, does not specify a date when organizations must begin to file with the Department of Revenue under the new reporting requirements,” Daley said. “The department was given leeway to set a date within the parameters that recordkeeping requirements not place an undue hardship or burden on licensed organizations. Based on the conversations that I’ve had with numerous organizations in the area, I believe that the February deadline represents an undue hardship and burden for most, if not all, organizations.”

According to Daley, there already is talk by some House members and staff of working to legislatively address some of the shortcomings in Act 2 of 2012, chief among those are at what fiscal level an organization should fall under reporting requirements and how much an organization should be required to place in a separate account for use by other community services. Behind the concept of these types of targeted fixes is the general support for increased prize limits.

“I also am calling on my colleagues and the governor to convene a meeting of all of the groups, organizations and other key stakeholders who have concerns with the legislation, so that any laws that we pass in the new session address the shortcomings of Act 2 of 2012,” Daley said.